Inoshishi

When my parents were here, in the autumn, I was noticing an awful lot of inoshishi [wild boar] things; figurines, pictures, cards, etc. I wondered if inoshishi were a fall staple, the way rabbits represent the harvest moon, and therefore are everywhere for a few months in early autumn. I was a bit surprised about the inoshishi, as I didn't notice any last year. But then again, we were so busy and culture-shocked last fall that we must have just missed it.

Well, the mystery has been solved. 2007 is year of the boar, so of course inoshishi things are everywhere. I felt a little silly for forgetting about that. And to tie into the whole boar thing, we finally saw one! Driving back from Takeno on Turkey Day, a big ol' dirty pig scampered across the road in front of us.